AFP - Three German states went to the polls for the first electoral examination of Chancellor Angela Merkel's power-sharing government since she took office in November.

Commons leader Geoff Hoon warns peers to stop blocking plans for all passport applicants to get ID cards.

AP - Tens of thousands of people crowded to get free admission to an amusement park in Seoul on Sunday, triggering a stampede that injured 34 people, officials said.

AP - A smoking ban in enclosed public places took effect in Scotland on Sunday, although a poll showed that a fifth of all Scottish smokers planned to ignore the new law.

AP - Thousands of protesters demanding the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took their message to shoppers in the heart of the capital Sunday, forcing at least one luxury mall to temporarily close its doors.

AP - Sealers took to the thawing ice floes off the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday, the first day of Canada's contentious seal hunt, confronting animal rights activists who claim the annual cull is cruel.

AP - Prince Charles took his message of religious tolerance Saturday to an Islamic university that follows Saudi Arabia's strict Wahhabi school of the faith, but he made no mention of the lack of religious freedoms in the country.

AP - Stephen Ames took on Sawgrass at full strength and finished a grueling afternoon with a rare smile, surviving with a 2-under 70 to take a one-shot lead Saturday in The Players Championship.

AP - Sealers took to the thawing ice floes off the Atlantic Ocean on the first day of Canada's contentious seal hunt Saturday, sparking confrontations with animal rights activists who claim the annual cull is cruel.

AP - Authorities are investigating the deaths of seven patients in suspected euthanasia cases at a northern Japanese hospital, officials said Saturday.

Reuters - Belarus riot police took up positions at entrances to Minsk's October Square on Saturday, ahead of a rally called to denounce the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko, which the opposition says was rigged.

AFP - The confirmed death toll from a flooded coal mine in north China has risen to 19 as hopes faded for nine miners still trapped underground after a week, state media has reported.

AP - South Korea and the United States began joint military exercises on Saturday amid angry protests by North Korea, which has denounced the annual exercises as preparations for a pre-emptive nuclear attack.

AP - They scrapped their vaunted four-guard attack in the opening minutes of the game after seeing it was no match for the taller, heftier Boston College. Allan Ray had one of his more miserable nights, and the rest of Villanova's offense wasn't much better. It took almost 38 minutes for the Wildcats to get their first lead, and even then it was fleeting.

AP - Personal bankruptcies soared 30 percent to a record high last year as financially strained people rushed to file before new restrictions took effect Oct. 17.

The number of Americans filing for bankruptcy jumped 30 percent last year to the highest on record as debtors rushed to file petitions before new restrictions took effect, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

AP - Randy Walker swears he would have died from his diabetes after Hurricane Katrina had a sheriff not seized two FEMA trucks filled with ice and distributed it to residents, many of whom had to keep their insulin cold.

AP - It doesn't take much to make Dick Cheney at home on the road: Diet Sprite, a pot of coffee — both sans caffeine — and a TV tuned to Fox News Channel.

Reuters - South Korea was set for its first woman prime minister on Friday after President Roh Moo-hyun named lawmaker and former jailed democracy activist to succeed a veteran legislator who quit over a golfing gaffe.

AFP - Violence erupted in central Paris again as rioters took over a protest march over a controversial labour law, hurling rocks and bottles at police and lighting cars and shops ablaze.